HS girls soccer: Watertown, South Jeff play to 1-1 draw

The outcome between the South Jefferson and Watertown girls soccer teams on Tuesday night exemplifies just how fiercely competitive the Frontier League is this season.

After battling to a scoreless tie in the first meeting this season, the Spartans and Cyclones each finally managed to tally a goal against one another, but this time finished in a 1-1 draw in a physical interdivisional crossover game at Watertown High School.

Every game has been close, Watertown coach Mike VanNostrand said. Were a little disappointed that we didnt win. But Im also proud that after we were down 1-0 just (around) 40 seconds into the game the girls had it in them to keep playing, because we havent been scoring a lot of goals.

After South Jeffersons Courtney Cavellier scored in the games first minute, Watertowns Miranda Gilbert followed with the tying goal in the 53rd minute of regulation.

Its awesome, Im so happy, Gilbert, a senior co-captain, said of the outcome. We definitely wanted it more than we did last time. Its a big deal for us to come back and get the tie.

We got off to a good start obviously in the first minute, South Jefferson coach Terry Burgess said, then we got outplayed for a good portion of the game. But we played fairly well defensively  so along with our keeper, who made with some really big saves  thats always going to keep us in the game.

By rallying to record the tie, the Cyclones (4-4-3, 4-4-2) moved within one point of first-place Carthage in the leagues A Division.

In turn, the Spartans (7-1-2) boosted their lead in the B Division to four points over Lowville.

I thought in the overtime we played a lot better, Burgess said. We took it to them a little more than in regulation time. But I think it was a fair result for both teams as far as the way the game went.

This was really an evenly played game ... and I think this league is really up for grabs, VanNostrand said.

Cavellier opened the scoring just 43 seconds elapsed by working her way down the left wing and firing the ball into the right side of the net.

That was definitely a bummer, Gilbert said. We tried not to let it get inside our heads. We just bounced back and tried to stay focused.

Gilbert scored the tying goal as she moved down the left side and with her left foot booted a drive that an outstretched Decker got a hand on, but the ball curled into the upper half of the net with 27:16 left in the second half.

Miranda is a hard worker and she loves this game, VanNostrand said. Shes naturally right-footed, but she strikes the ball fantastically with her left foot. It was just a perfect shot.

Gilberts effort, which she called just a lucky goal, was only the third tally allowed by South Jefferson this season.

There was a couple times when we could have played harder and we didnt  and it showed and came back on us, Decker said.

Decker later responded with a sequence of two quick consecutive saves with nine minutes remaining in the second half. Aldrich then ranged from her net to deny Hayley Maguires scoring rush with 7:30 left in regulation.

We definitely worked for it in overtime to try and get (an extra) point, Decker said. Sometimes you work hard, but the other team works hard as well. These games just result in basically a good experience because you know you have to work hard all the time.

The fortunes of the A and B Division teams continue to be interwoven as Watertown bounced back after losing to Lowville on Saturday.

Right now were doing OK, but we want to do better, Gilbert said. We definitely want to try and stay focused and win these next few games.

I think everyone is going to be giving us their best game, and weve been saying this since the beginning of the year, Burgess said. Last year, we snuck up on people and this year people expect us to be one of the better teams. And we have to respond to that, obviously.

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